


Afterword

by whitenoise27



Category: Magic ex Libris - Jim C. Hines, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame Fix-It, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27303115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitenoise27/pseuds/whitenoise27
Summary: After the final battle, a dying Tony gets help from an unexpected source.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Kudos: 11





	Afterword

**Author's Note:**

  * For [piratesandpixiedust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piratesandpixiedust/gifts).



> For those unfamiliar with Magic Ex Libris, it's an urban (if you can call U.P. Michigan "urban") fantasy series about a magical librarian who is able to pull objects out of books by tapping into the collective belief of the readers. I've exaggerated the ability a little bit here, though to be fair, by the end of the series they're experimenting with new ways to use this particular brand of magic. 
> 
> This is a slightly cracky fix-it written for a friend who was devastated by Tony's fate at the end of Endgame.

In the aftermath of the battle, no one noticed the stranger in the brown duster until he was almost on top of them. He had a giant tarantula on his left shoulder, and was carrying a battered copy of _The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe_ in one hand and a small crystal vial in the other. His approach was halting as he kept turning around in circles looking at the sky, at the landscape, at the disaster around him with a sense of wonder. "It worked," he was saying, breathlessly. "It actually worked."

Then his eyes landed on Tony and he zeroed in, his erratic path becoming a beeline.

Thor stood fast and held an arm to the newcomer's chest, shoving him backwards a few steps. The spider on the man's shoulder burst into flames, and he winced and tilted his head away from the miniature fireball threatening to melt his ear off. "Who are you?" Thor asked.

"I'm not too late, am I?" the stranger said, a little panicky, trying to look past the Asgardian to see the dying man beyond. "I've only got one shot at this; please tell me I'm not too late. I can help him." He raised the hand holding the book to point towards Tony.

Thor shifted to block his path, but Pepper stood from her crouch, a sudden burst of hope spreading across her face, and tried to push Thor out of the way. "Let him through," she whispered, pleading eyes not leaving the stranger. "Please." Tony was about to die anyway; this man could hardly hurt him worse than he was already hurt, and if there was the slightest chance that he could be saved…

Thor nodded and stepped aside, clearing the way for the stranger to move through. The spider's flames died down, and the man darted to Tony's side and crouched, pulling the stopper from the small vial.

"Tony, my name is Isaac. I need you to drink this, ok? Just one drop, you'll be good as new." As Isaac tilted the vial over Tony's open mouth, he raised his voice over his shoulder. "Someone get this glove off! The cordial will heal him, but it won't protect him."

Thor knelt beside the pair and gently slid the stone-embedded gauntlet from Tony's hand. Pepper, on the other side, had bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood as she held Tony's other hand in both of her own.

The burns slowly but visibly receded from Tony's face and neck. Isaac sat back on his heels and let out a sigh of relief. "I wasn't sure this would work," he said. "I've been experimenting… I've always been able to pull things out of fictional universes, but this is the first time I've been able to send myself into one. It requires an incredibly strong field of belief, but I thought, who's got more collective belief than the Avengers?"

"Fictional universes?" Peter asked, looking around uncertainly.

"What the hell is he sayin'?" Rocket asked Thor, then turned the question to Isaac. "What the hell are you sayin'?"

Isaac froze and looked around him from face to disbelieving face. "Too much, clearly. Umm… Tony's gonna be fine. I gotta go umm, take my spider for a walk. C'mon, Smudge."

"Not so fast," Thor said, again holding up his arm, this time preventing Isaac from leaving.

"No, it's ok." The gathered crowd spun around as one to see Tony getting unsteadily to his feet, leaning on Pepper for support, but visibly stronger than he'd been thirty seconds ago. "I'm ok. Let him go."

Thor once again lowered his arm and stepped aside, but as Isaac turned to leave, Pepper shouted, "Wait!" Leaving Tony to lean on Peter, she ran across the dusty ground and grabbed Isaac in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered, clinging tighter for a moment before letting him go and looking him in the eyes. "Thank you."

Isaac nodded, then grinned at the crowd of staring superheroes. "You'll wanna watch this; it's pretty cool." He turned his back to them and held up a hand, like he was pressing it to a wall that only he could see. He closed his eyes in concentration, and after a few moments, his hand sank through the invisible wall and disappeared, followed soon after by the rest of him. There was a slight ripple in the air, like heat waves rising from a fire, then it and Isaac were gone, as if they had never existed.

Rocket ran to the spot where Isaac had vanished, waving his hands around and trying unsuccessfully to find the portal or whatever it was that Isaac had disappeared into.

"What did he mean by ‘fictional universe’?" Peter asked again as Pepper took her place back at Tony's side.

Captain Danvers clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid," she said. "There's a lot of universes out there, real and otherwise; sometimes wires get crossed."

Peter didn't find that answer either enlightening or reassuring, but Mr. Stark was alive, and Thanos was gone, and it seemed like everything was going to be ok, so he nodded and watched Rocket still jumping in the air trying to figure out where Isaac had gone.

Tony, no longer needing to lean on anyone but keeping his arm around Pepper anyway, looked at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Let's go home."


End file.
